Department: Economics and Elliott School of International Affairs
Professor Remi Jedwab
Description: The second project consists of measuring the economic effects of road investments connecting cities in Africa over the past 50 years. More precisely, for 42 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 1960-2015, we investigate the relationship between road quality, trade between cities, and
city growth, a traditional measure of local economic development. We already have a first draft of the paper: http://home.gwu.edu/~jedwab/Jedwab_Storeygard_07202016.pdf. We are now trying to improve the paper, for example by collecting and using geospatialized data on the location of border crossings in the same 42 countries over the same period. The location of border crossings will give us additional information on the specific trade costs of trading with cities in neighboring countries rather than cities belonging to the same country.
Duties: The research assistant will have to help me: (i) locate some additional sources of data (e.g., maps or tables in books or historical studies, etc.), (ii) help me recreate some of this data in excel or in GIS (geographical information system). GIS is a format that is used to produce as well as analyze the maps that can be found in most books or reports. If the student doesn’t know how to create GIS data, I will train the student myself. I have software that is relatively easy to use. GIS skills are strongly valued by bilateral and multilateral aid agencies because they often need maps for their publications.
Time Commitment/Credits: 4-6 hours per week (average), 2 credits; OR 7+ hours per week, 3 credits
To Apply: Submit Cover Letter/Resume to jedwab@gwu.edu
Category: Research Assistant Opportunity
Understanding the Maoist/Leftist Insurgency in India [Research Assistantship]
Department: Political Science
Professor Emmanuel Teitelbaum
Project Description: Professor Emmanuel Teitelbaum (Department of Political Science) is seeking a part-time research assistant (15-20 hours per week) for a project on conflict in India. Since 2004, India has been home to a leftist extremist movement in eastern and southern India, in the form of a Maoist insurgency. The project involves the creation of a dataset of incidents of Maoist violence in India from 2004 to the present. We seek to broaden our understanding of the scale of violent insurgencies and the government’s various responses to them, by identifying all such incidents at the village levels all over India.
Duties: Research assistants will be required to read news reports of Maoist insurgency-related events over the last 10 years from Indian news sources, and code them. The preferred candidate will have some familiarity with South Asia, and preferably a basic understanding of Indian politics and society.
S/he should also have critical thinking and analytical skills necessary to comb through news reports and identify pertinent details. Finally, they should be experienced in spreadsheet applications like Excel.
Time Commitment/Credits: 10 or more hours per week (average); 3 credits
To Apply: Please send your resume and a brief statement regarding your interest and relevant experience to ejt@gwu.edu and piplaniv@gwu.edu. Please indicate in your email how many hours per week you are available to work.
Podcast: How We Manage Stuff [Research Assistantship]
Department: Elliott School Center for International Science & Technology Policy
Professor David Alan Grier
Project Description: “How We Manage Stuff” is a weekly audio podcast designed to give young leaders a more sophisticated understanding of technology and how it impacts organization. Available on over 20 major platforms, it combines in-depth interviews, thoughtful commentary, with sketch comedy. It’s guests have included Futurist George Dyson, WorldSpace (original XM Radio) Founding Executive Tiffany Norwood, ICANN Board Chair Steve Crocker, and Federal Trade Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen. The project has a staff of 8 and is currently lead by David Alan Grier (Honors Director Emeritus & Associate Professor of International Science & Technology Policy) and Tamara Carleton (Innovation Board Member, Stanford PhD and GW Honors Class ’97. The archive of episodes can be found at http://HowWeManageStuff.com
Duties: For Fall ’16, the Producer RA duties will involve during research ( and potentially some writing) of the scripts needed to complete the current season of the podcast. Duties will involve organizing and annotating scripts from the first six season of the show, researching background of the guests for the fall and researching the innovation system from DARPA, which underlies the major themes of the series. We are offering it as an 8 hour a week RA with credit but could adjust the requirements for the right candidate. We would ask for a short writing sample – a paper from GW class would be perfectly fine – and a statement of the qualities and skills that you would bring to the project. Inquiries can be sent to grier@gwu.edu
Time Commitment/Credits: 7-9 hours per week; 3 credits
To Apply: Submit a short writing sample and statement of the qualities and skills that you would bring to the project to grier@gwu.edu.
PWP in Science, Technology, and Public Policy [Teaching Assistantship]
Department: International Affairs
Professor Catherine Woytowicz
Project Description: I am looking to hire a GTA or PWP (undergraduate teaching assistant) for my spring course – Science, Technology and Policy (IAFF2190W). This is a practical, but nontraditional class played like a White House briefing team. We interview and brief experts in many fields. We write talking points, policy briefs, op eds, and briefing books.
Duties: The duties are primarily to help students use critical thinking to write about science and public policy issues. The course duties take about 10hrs/week and may include:
* attend class (7 – 10pm Thursday nights)
* hold 2 office hours/week (not on Thursdays)
* maintain experts database for student interviews and
call Society, NGO, industrial, military, and academic contacts
* help manage speakers/experts
* assist with protocol reception
* receive mentoring from Dr. Woytowicz based on goals
The selected candidate will be required to attend a welcome dinner with the previous teaching assistant cadre at a date when all can attend. Former PWPs now work at the White House, CSIS, on the Hill, and for private firms. We keep in close contact – even after graduation. This is a great opportunity for those interested in science policy, teaching, or staff work.
Time Commitment/Compensation: 7-9 hours per week (average); $1125 PWP (based on 20 student cap)
To Apply: Submit the following items to drcat@gwu.edu by 5pm on Friday, 23 September:
* a cover letter of up to two single-spaced pages that clearly notes your year and major, why you want the position, what you would like out of the position, and your general career goals
* a resume (this can be informal)
* a writing sample of up to one single-spaced page on any science policy issue answering the question “Why is this issue important to the United States?”
* a statement of up to one single-spaced page on a notional mentoring goal (writing, briefing, teaching, etc) you would want to do
Representing Black Men's Health & Sexualities: HIV Risk and Social-Structural Context [Research Assistantship]
Department: Psychology
Professor Lisa Bowleg
Project Description: Team Represent is lead by Professor of Applied Social Psychology, Dr. Lisa Bowleg. The team consists of a postdoctoral scientist, two Master’s level project directors, two doctoral students, a business manager, and a staff research assistant. Currently, we are conducting two National Institutes of Health-funded HIV prevention studies with Black men in DC. Men Count, is a HIV prevention intervention for unemployed and unstably housed young Black heterosexual men. Menhood is a mixed methods (i.e., qualitative and quantitative) study with Black men in DC designed to understand how factors such as neighborhoods, stressors such as police harassment and gentrification, and resilience at the individual and neighborhood-level are associated with HIV risk and protective behaviors. Data collection on Men Count is ongoing, but we are about to begin quantitative data analysis on Menhood, and write manuscripts to disseminate the qualitative findings from Menhood. Additionally, we will be writing two grant proposals — one focused on Black gay, bisexual and men have sex with men’s health, and another focused on gender transformative intervention for young Black boys — and seek assistance with that venture.
Duties: 1. Conduct literature searches of the peer-reviewed literature 2. Attend team trainings/workshops (e.g., quantitative analysis, writing for peer-reviewed publications) 3. Assist Dr. Bowleg and other team members in the completion of manuscripts (e.g., fact checking and verifying information such as HIV incidence and prevalence data; tracking down U.S. Census Bureau data), developing tables, and depending on skill and experience, writing sections of publications. 4. Qualitative data coding using Nvivo (qualitative software) 5. Assist with cleaning and management of the newly collected Menhood data 6. Cleaning, updating, and maintaining the team’s Endnotes bibliographic library 7. Participate in Team Represent research-related meetings 8. Other research-related tasks (e.g., assisting with presentations, conference abstracts, etc.)
Time Commitment/Credits: 10 hours or more per week; 3 credits
To Apply: Submit cover letter and resume to lbowleg@gwu.edu
Write Soon as You Get This: The Lanphear Family Letters, 1854-1870 [Research Assistantship]
Department: University Writing
Professor Mark Mullen
Project Description: What is interesting about this project?
While the Lanphear story is not, ultimately, a very happy one, the letters themselves are a lot of fun to read. There is humor, no shortage of family drama (no one seems to have liked Reuben’s second wife at all, for example) and each of the family members emerges as a distinct character in the ongoing story. A key element of this project is that I am transcribing their letters as written, leaving all grammatical and punctuation idiosyncrasies intact. If you are at all interested in the richness of language, or in learning how ordinary working class people in the nineteenth century actually spoke and wrote you will enjoy working on this project.
Duties: The Research Assistant would be responsible for:
a) checking the accuracy of existing transcriptions
b) offering their own suggestions for particularly difficult instances of handwriting interpretation
c) identifying terminology, events, or references that would need further explanation for a general audience
If the RA has an a research project that he or she is currently working on that would be a good fit with this project we could talk about additional research work. While I haven’t selected the “for credit” option I would be open to changing that depending on the needs and interests of the RA.
Time Commitment/Credits: 1-3 hours per week (average); 0 credits
To Apply: Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: ishmael@gwu.edu
Computational Study of Genomic and Epigenomic regulation of Gene Expression [Research Assistantship]
Department: Physics
Professor Weiqun Peng
Project Description: Recent revolution in genome technology has ushered us in an era of high-quality high-throughput quantitative genomics data, opening up new dimensions in the understanding of biological systems. My group employs data-driven approaches (data mining, machine-learning) to study genomic and epigenomic regulation of gene expression, working closely with leading experimental groups in the respective fields. This project aims to characterize the biological significance of intron retention, one of the key forms of alternative splicing in eukaryotes, in gene regulation and cellular function. Our preliminary work in human CD4+ T cells demonstrated that regulated intron retention coupled with mRNA degradation might serve as a novel post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism underlying T cell activation. In this project, we will 1) explore intron retention-mediated regulation across diverse immune cell types and in human cancer; 2) characterize the molecular mechanism underlying intron retention at the sequence, epigenetic and network level; 3) examine how regulated intron retention coordinates with other regulatory modes to achieve expression robustness and plasticity.
Duties: Seeking motivated students who are enthusiastic about learning and cutting-edge research. Strong programming skill is necessary. Knowledge in biology is a big plus. Duty involves 1) Tailor and apply existing code to large functional genomics data sets 2) Develop novel analysis tools for genomics research
Time Commitment/Credits: 7-9 hours per week; 3 credits
To Apply: Send cover letter and resume to wpeng@gwu.edu
Knot Theory: Editing, Programming, and Thinking [Research Assistantship]
Department: Mathematics
Professor Jozef Przytycki
Project Description: Knot Theory is a discipline of modern mathematics, part of topology (geometria situs). Student(s) will assist me with editing programing and doing research in Knot
Theory.
Duties: Students under my supervision will be involved in tasks as below:
1. Student would assist in preparing/editing research paper for arXiv submission (and eventual publication). Student has to learn LaTeX and how to draw figures in xfig or other similar program.
2. Many invariants of graphs and knots require pattern testing which require to write simple (or not that simple) programs. Also programs are needed to analyze simple algebraic structures related to knots.
I assume student would assist me 4-6 hours a week (2 credit) but I am flexible, so more, or less is possible.
Time Commitment/Credits: 4-6 hours per week (average); 2 credits
To Apply: Submit Cover Letter/Resume to przytyck@gwu.edu
Boston University Twin Project [Research Assistantship]
Department: Psychology
Professor Jody Ganiban
Project Description: The Boston University Twin Project (BUTP) is a multi-method, multi-situation, longitudinal study of early child temperament and related behaviors. The first phase of this project focused primarily on activity level and comprised over 300 twin pairs assessed in the home and lab at ages 2 and 3. Subject recruitment, sample characteristics, and study procedures are described. A second phase broadens our focus to the development of multiple temperament dimensions and developmental outcomes in a new cohort of 300 twin pairs to be assessed at 3, 4, and 5 years of age.
Duties: Research assistants will be involved in the collection of data through analysis of videos of parent-child dyadic interactions. Each RA will be assigned videos weekly to code. Much of the work would be done independently and on the research assistant’s schedule. One hour each week would be dedicated to a meeting with other research assistants and the supervisor in order to discuss anomalies in videos and necessary modifications to the coding manual and procedures.
Time Commitment/Credits: 7-9 hours per week; 3 credits
To Apply: Submit your cover letter and resume to ganiban@gwu.edu
Industrializing in the Emporer’s Shadow–the Red River of Northern Vietnam [Research Assistantship]
Department: Political Science
Professor Alasdair Bowie
Project Description: This is a chapter in a larger book manuscript on the role of local (provincial, district) governments in the contemporary economic development of Vietnam and Indonesia. I have a completed draft of this chapter which relies primarily upon field research and data on two provinces of the Red River Delta, collected while I was a Fulbright research scholar in Vietnam in 2011. I welcome help finding sources to update and supplement statistical and empirical data in the chapter. I also hope to supplement the treatment of the two provinces with some brief, thumbnail treatments of 2-3 other provinces in this region of Vietnam.
Duties: I seek an undergraduate RA with experience of writing research papers in disciplines such as political science, international affairs or history (to name but a few). She/he should possess well developed abilities to use the databases available through the Gelman Library website to identify and access statistical and empirical data. She/he should also be a self-motivated and indefatigable searcher for scholarly and authoritative sources online. Her/his tasks will involve helping me find sources to update and supplement
statistical and empirical data in the chapter. I also hope to she/he will help me supplement the treatment of the two provinces that are the focus of the existing chapter draft with some brief, thumbnail treatments of 2-3 other provinces located in this northern region of Vietnam. The student need not be familiar with Vietnam or have any knowledge of the Vietnamese language. However, she/he should be innovative in using Google Translate (or other online tools) to navigate sites that are primarily in Vietnamese and to find comparable English-language sources where available. Although the student should undertake the required research in her/his own time, and the primary method of reporting on her/his research will be by email, I would expect to meet with the student to discuss in person reports and updates on Tuesday afternoons in my office for 20-30 minutes between 1:00 and 3:30, initially on a weekly basis (perhaps less frequently as the semester goes on). The student would need to be available at some time during this window.
Time Commitment/Credits: 7-9 hours per week (average); 3 credits
To Apply: Submit Cover Letter/Resume to abowie@gwu.edu
